After running one of Jacksonville’s most profitable public companies for the past decade, Henry Gerkens said Wednesday he is retiring as chief executive officer of Landstar System Inc. at the end of this year.
He will be succeeded by James Gattoni, Landstar’s chief financial officer who was promoted to the additional position of president in January as part of a succession planning process.
Gerkens, who will be turning 64, said in a telephone interview that he is in “great health,” but “it’s time for me to step down and take it easy a little bit.”
He will stay with the trucking company through the management transition as executive chairman but retire from the company completely at its annual shareholders meeting next spring.
Gerkens said Landstar has a “great bench” of management talent and he is confident he is leaving the company in good hands.
Gattoni joined Landstar in 1995 and has been chief financial officer since 2007. He said Wednesday that he doesn’t expect anything to change at the company as he takes the top spot from Gerkens.
“We’ve worked side-by-side for seven or eight years,” Gattoni said.
“We kind of have the same thought process and the same goals,” he said.
Diana Murphy, the lead independent director on Landstar’s board, said in a news release that Gattoni “quickly emerged as a key player on the management team” after he joined the company.
“Jim’s promotion is a testament to Landstar’s ongoing succession planning process and is well deserved,” she said.
Gattoni said Gerkens is leaving the company in great shape.
“We’re having one of the best years we’ve had in the history of Landstar,” he said.
In its second-quarter earnings report, Landstar said revenue of $814 million and earnings per share of 80 cents were both quarterly record highs.
Gerkens said a month ago that the strong trends were continuing in the third quarter, but he said Wednesday he couldn’t comment on final earnings for the quarter because Landstar is in a quiet period before officially reporting its results in three weeks.
Gerkens joined Landstar in 1988 and has been a top officer throughout its history, including its initial public offering in 1993 and the move of its corporate headquarters from Connecticut to Jacksonville in 1997.
He succeeded Jeffrey Crowe as CEO in 2004.
“He’s done a tremendous job,” said Gattoni.
Gerkens said he’s not planning any new business ventures after his official retirement from Landstar on Dec. 29.
“I’m always game for something, but Landstar’s been my life for the last 26 years,” he said.
“I think we’ve build a great company.”
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